Billy Napier Confident in Florida's NIL Approach Post-Jaden Rashada Fallout

Billy Napier opened up, seemingly to the best of his ability, about Jaden Rashada's release from Florida and what it means for the Gators' approach to recruiting and Name, Image and Likeness.

Photo: Billy Napier; Credit: Zach Goodall

Much changed for Florida football in the 42 days between head coach Billy Napier's Early Signing Period and National Signing Day press conferences. 

Attendance for the latter, an availability scheduled to welcome the remaining 33 percent of Napier's 2023 recruiting and transfer class, spoke to the magnitude of the events that occurred in that span of time. 

"Man," Napier said as he approached the microphone on Wednesday. "I knew we'd have a full house today." 

12 days prior, class of 2023 quarterback and the prize of Napier's recruiting haul Jaden Rashada was released from his signed National Letter of Intent. 

Two months of hype, praise for the Gators' recruiting efforts and hope for the future had all been thrown out the window after the Pittsburg, Calif. product failed to enroll at UF after flipping his commitment from Miami on Nov. 11, 2022.

Napier suggested the matter wasn't entirely, if at all, within his control, and reiterated the respect he has for Rashada and his family just as he had done in December after the quarterback signed with Florida. 

And while he repeated that there was only so much he could say about the topic due to NCAA rules regarding a recruit — Rashada signed with Arizona State about three hours after the press conference began — Napier made an effort to toe the line and provide a bit of clarity.

"I wish we could get into the specifics," Napier admitted in a staredown with the lectern below him, his tone becoming a bit somber while engaging the subject, "but we’re not allowed to." 

Here's what Napier could offer: Third parties were involved in the crumbling of a Name, Image and Likeness deal that Rashada agreed to, with agents, marketing representatives, lawyers and collectives entrenched in the negotiations surrounding his recruitment. 

That reality created a "very fluid and I think a very unique dynamic" that Napier, and frankly every head coach in college football to various extents, must navigate within the complicating rules created for university employees pertaining to student-athletes earning compensation. Those rules can be, and often are, different from state to state.

Napier has, on numerous occasions including Wednesday, made his intention to play the rules known. From his position as a head coach recruiting a prospect, Napier did what was necessary to secure Rashada's signature during the early signing period — much like he and his staff accomplished with their 20 other class of 2023 signees. 

Ultimately, from Napier's observed point of view, Rashada isn't a Gator due to third-party interference in the pay-for-play world that is modern college football. 

“I think you spend your entire life, your entire career trying to establish who you are and how you operate. I think, ultimately, I can lay my head down at night based off of that," Napier proclaimed. 

"Time will tell, and ultimately the good thing here is I have a lot of confidence with our leadership, strategy that we’re deploying, how it’s benefitting our team — the group of players we have on our team. I think we’re going about it the right way.” 

Napier does not believe the NCAA will contact Florida about the situation, lending credence to his confidence in the Gators' approach to recruiting in the NIL era. 

However, even if the university's nose is clean in this instance, prospective student-athletes and their influences have every right to be wary of the state of NIL at Florida in the wake of Rashada's falling out. 

In response, Napier pointed to the lack of remittance issues across Florida's roster or any sense of distrust in other recruitments about the NIL opportunities that would await those prospects if they end up in Gainesville. 

In fact, since tensions began to arise with Rashada's camp as early as Dec. 7, 2022 — per The Athletic's reporting — the Gators have added one class of 2023 commitment in offensive tackle Caden Jones, who signed on Wednesday, ten transfers and two class of 2024 pledges in quarterback DJ Lagway and linebacker Adarius Hayes. 

"We’re very pleased with where we’re at relative to our current players, all the athletes and what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short amount of time," Napier said about NIL's impact on Florida's current roster before expanding on the recruiting aspect. 

“We had no issues. We didn’t lose any, no issues," Napier noted. "I’m just not permitted to comment on that specific situation, but I will tell you we had no issues amongst our current team, or we haven’t had any issues with any of the recruiting situations.” 

But how can Napier guarantee a mishap of this magnitude won't happen again on his watch over Florida football if the proverbial roadblocks are set up off of campus grounds? Even he isn't so sure. 

"I think it’s very difficult, I would say," Napier said. "It’s like coming up with a different management system, right? Different checks and balances. We’re talking about a completely different dynamic. We’re playing a game that’s never been played before.” 

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